Chocolate

Lindt is one of those chocolates that I’ve always felt were a little more “upscale” then the other brands that I’d see in more mainstream stores. In my mind they’re part of the chocolate “it” clique with Ghirardelli and Godiva , and they look down on chocolates such as Hershey’s, Dove, and Nestle’s. Lindt is part of the cool chocolate crowd.

I was excited when this bar was first released a little over a year ago. I remember seeing it at the All Candy Expo booth, but I didn’t get to try it until I visited a Lindt store and bought one for myself. It was actually on a day I was getting a haircut and I shared the bar with my hairdresser, who liked it a lot. I recently picked it up again because I wanted to re-visit the flavor, as I’ve gotten more familiar with spicy chocolate and was curious to see the taste comparison.

The bar is broken into large squares. Two of them make up the width of the bar. The squares are filled, as the cardboard wrapper indicates.

The aroma is nice and deep of dark chocolate. I get no spice or fruitiness at all. Inside, the cherry filling is gooey and akin to jam, but not as think or flavorful. Still, it delivers a nice fruity hit that blends and matches the chocolate. Ah, the chocolate. Lindt does do it well for such a large company as they still manage to get a very upscale feel to it. It’s very rich and slippery on the tongue and delivers nice roasted flavors. A good example of a nice 70% dark. As for the chili? Well, it’s hard to find. I tasted a little of it in the aftertaste, as a subtle warmth. That was about it.

This is a nice bar for beginners who want to try and expand their chocolate tastings. If you’ve never had a spice bar, this is a good one to try as it’s like putting your toe into the hot bathwater.

I spent an exciting Saturday at the 11th Annual New York City Chocolate Show. If you’re a chocolate lover at all, you need to attend this show at least once. It’s a great place to revel in your love of chocolate and discover new kinds to indulge in.

You can feast your eyes on the beautiful chocolates for sample and sale, along with the extremely creative chocolate sculpture and fashions that are modeled in a show which kicks off the chocolate filled weekend.

There were many wonderful and delicious things I saw and tasted while I was on the show floor, so I will mention a few of the highlights. But this is by no means a comprehensive slit of all the tasty stuff I ate at the show:

I’ve been a reader of Nina’s blog ofSweet Napa for a long time, as it’s always fun to see what other sweet-tooth driven individuals are up to. I’ve known of her BonBon Bars for some time, but haven’t had the motivation to try them.

During a trip to Los Angeles this past summer I visited Nina, with the sweet company of Cybele, at the Century City farmers market where I was finally able to taste her offerings. Let’s just say they were everything I heard about and then some. I bought a few to take home with me, only to have them mangled on the trip home and therefore unworthy to review. When I saw there was a limited edition Pumpkin Pie flavor released for a few months this fall, I knew I had to put an order in. So I am very excited to review these bars for you, my readers.

Malt Bar: “Creamy Malt Ganache & Crunchy Shortbread” I got one of each the dark and milk chocolate variety. The flavors and textures in the compliment each other beautifully. The shortbread is crunchy and extremely buttery. The ganache is smooth and has an incredible richness to it. The flavor is very sophisticated, as none of the elements are overpowering. The flavor is very chocolatey, lightly malty, buttery…..essentially a little bit of heaven. These were gone in a flash.

As far as the milk/dark chocolate difference, the milk tastes much less chocolately than the dark and isn’t any sweeter. So it really depends on which you prefer.

Orange Bar: “Orange Caramel & Pecan Nougat topped with Candied Orange Peel” The flavor is sweet, but like the Malt bar, it’s not too much. The orange flavor in the thick, chewy caramel dominates and it’s really a bright, fresh, authentic flavor. You don’t really taste the nougat as it just delivers a nice fluffy texture. The pecans I hardly really notice; I get a piece every now and then which are fresh and flavorful. The best part of this bar is biting a section with the candied orange that’s placed on top. It elevated the whole orange flavor and really adds a great extra chewy texture to the whole bar.

Pumpkin Pie Bar: “Warm with spices and rich with chocolate, our limited edition Pumpkin Pie Bar evokes the spirit of the holiday season. We place a Spiced Pumpkin Caramel atop a Graham Cracker Crust, and enrobe it with Dark Chocolate” Oh, this bar is yummy! Too bad it’s a limited edition too, I wish I could get these all year. The star of this bar is the graham cracker crust on the bottom. It adds a wonderful crunch and a flavorful base for the squash and spice flavors to build upon. The jist of the taste is definitely fall with it’s very warm effect of the flavor. I would have liked a stronger presence of the pumpkin, but that’s most likely just me, as I’m obsessed with squashes of all types. I bought three of these bars and they were the first to go. Everyone I shared them with agreed that they were out of this world.

These bars are lovely and I could continue to gush about them, but it’s best to keep things succinct. They run at $5 a bar, which is a fair price in my mind considering how fresh and flavorful they are. They’d be an awesome gift, whether it’s for yourself or for a special someone. BonBon bars are indeed a wonderful gourmet treat, and one I plan to get my hands on again very soon.

I’m sure many of you have never heard of Boyer’s Smoothie, as it’s the ignored sibling to the ever popular Mallo Cup. The Smoothie was a creation that Boyer Candy Company made back in the day to ride the popularity of the Mallo Cup. It’s a unique candy, as it’s made of a smooth peanut butter center covered with butterscotch coating.

I was lucky to find a package of Smoothies in a random gas station in Upstate New York on my way to visit my parents. The package is so very dated in it’s design with almost garish colors and bland font. For some reason I find it terribly appealing, because it reminds me of a time when the flavor of a candy was it’s selling point. Not the package design and marketing campaigns.

Opening the package reveals the two cups, same format as Mallo Cup. They’re yellowish brown in color and I’m reminded of those horrid Reeses’ Inside Out Peanut Butter Cups that came out a few years ago. The Smoothie also comes with those cute cardboard money cards you can collect and save up for prizes. I’m still saving mine up.

The butterscotch is very sweet with that strong buttery flavor. The texture a little greasy and therefore slick on the tongue. Like the Mallo Cup it has a bit of texture, but instead of bits of coconut there’s small chopped chunks of peanuts layered in the coating on the top. If I had to liken the taste to something else, I’d say that these tasted like Reese’s Pieces if they were in cup form. I was disappointed with the flavor a little as it’s hard to taste where the butterscotch flavor ends and the peanut butter flavor begins, and vise versa. Last time I ate one of each they tasted very different, so I was of let down by this. Texture was the only tell tale sign I was eating one or the other.

Despite the faults I find with Smoothie, I still liked it. I can’t really explain it, but something about it appeals to me. It’s not something I’d eat regularly, though.

I’ve noticed Mallo Cups for a long time, but never picked them up until a little over a year ago. They always read “retro” candy to me, with the very bold and classic packaging design with the intense red lettering and yellow background. The fact that they always seemed to be placed next to the classic Sky Bar certainly didn’t help my impression either. Eventually curiosity got the best of me, and I am so glad it did.

Opening the package revealed several surprised. First, was the scent of coconut! I was under the impression that these were only marshmallow, but a careful inspection of the ingredients list shows coconut. Yum! Second, the cups were so cute, about the size of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. They even comes in similar little fluted wax paper cups! They’re nestled in a nice cardboard tray for protection, which is a nice effort on Boyer’s behalf. Last but not least is the cardboard play money that’s included in each package. I got a 5 point card piece. These are meant to be saved and redeemed for freebies on the Boyer website. A nice nod to a time when every company seemed to participate in these sorts of things.

The cups are nice to look at and area little uneven on the surface from the toasted coconut that sits atop the marshmallow interior. The aroma is lightly chocolatey with a hint of coconut.

The first bite you immediately feel the gooey marshmallow and I find myself carefully pulling my mouth away so I don’t make a mess. I didn’t of course, but that’s the sensation I felt. The marshmallow is fresh and soft, but thankfully not enough so that more of it ends up on your lap than in your mouth. The flavor is lovely: a good chocolately hit from the shell the a cool, smooth fluffy vanilla flavor from the soft marshmallow that’s mixed with the toasted coconut flavor from the coconut shavings. The coconut also adds a great textural contrast to the whole cup: soft marshmallow, smooth chocolate and slightly chewy coconut shavings.

Could this get any yummier? I don’t think so. I’m officially addicted.